Amazing A Maize Maze

Wednesday morning we headed out at around 9:30. Our first stop was Building 19 so that Mom could be sure that there wasn't an oriental rug there that she preferred to the one from Pelletier. We flipped stacks of rugs for about 45 minutes and then headed for Skip's for lunch. Since we had some time I decided to drive the less used (by us) side of the river. So instead of crossing from Haverhill to Groveland, we stayed on the Haverhill side. I had the camera with me and I wanted to stop and take pictures of the llamas at a local farm.

Just before we got to the llama hang out we came across a corn field maze. Guess there's more money in amusing folks than feeding them! It's a small maze but the first that I have seen in person. Since it was 90°F we didn't get "amazed". Maybe another day.

The llamas didn't cooperate for photo shooting but here are a couple that were the closest. There were half a dozen roaming around outside and a couple in the barn. Just managed to catch this one peeking around the corner. Too hot for them, too!

From the maze and the llamas, it was only a 10 minute drive to Skip's. Lori Matthews is in charge. Her mom and dad, Dot and Dave, the owners have semi retired. Lori was working the window and we told her how much we would miss our cheeseburger specials until Spring. I posted a photo of the Skip's sign on my post"Nummmba Foewha" when they opened for the season, so here's a picture of the front of the building. In the days I worked there, the front was "open air" and everyone ate in their car or at picnic tables. Now there is a dining room where people can eat in air conditioned comfort. We don't.

We decided that we needed to head directly home. Amanda had to be to work for 3 p.m. so there would be no stopping along the way.

We thought.

Some things you just have no control over.

Like bridges opening.
This is the Rocks Village bridge across the Merrimack River between the Rocks Village section of Haverhill and West Newbury. Since the river has been cleaned up there is a lot more boat traffic. This time of year people are moving their boats up river to be hauled for the winter. The Rocks Village bridge is a center swing, manpowered turnstile. Four men, two on each arm of the capstan. In the picture you can see the opening. When I took this they had just started to crank it closed.

And here we are waiting for the "stop arm" to be swung back and traffic to move. I took the picture from the driver's seat. Amanda did make it to work on time.

Hey, Hay guys!

On Tuesday we made our trek to Marini's Farm in Ipswich. Not far to drive compared to our normal excursions. There is not much to set Marini's apart from other country farms with roadside stores other than.......Hay People.Yes, we make the half hour (one way) journey each year to see these. And we buy a couple pumpkins. This year we bought some yummy tomatoes, too. Here are some more of the hay family.And the fourth.Here's a picture of Amanda and my Mom being pumpkin heads on the shoulders of one guy. Aside from being the "organizer" of pumpkins so Amanda and Mom could look them over from a distance and then being the carrier of the chosen pumpkins, it was a fun visit. I will say that Amanda and Mom weren't too bad about it. They only chose six to be lined up for judging and then picked two.

After the farm stop, we headed for the Northshore Mall so that I could shop for some dressy slacks and top for the 80th Gala of the Rockport Historical Society. I hate to say it, but it took far too long. TWO HOURS. I despise shopping when I HAVE to find something. And I spent more than I wanted, as well. Amanda bought some jeans and Mom bought socks. On the way home we stopped at Pelletier Rugs. My Mom picked out a nice 5 X 8 oriental for in the den.

We got home around 6 p.m. exhausted. I went down to the workshop for about an hours worth of work and then quit for the day.

Today it'll be work in the morning before leaving for Skip's for lunch. Our last cheeseburger specials for the season. Skip's closes this week and then opens again in late April. I wish we could avoid winter!

Poor Plumbing(er)

I am soooo #%#!!&%# irritated at the plumber that did our addition. If I were a violent person, well..........thankfully we'll never find out.

About a year ago our bathroom sink started draining slowly. Amanda has the bad habit of brushing her long hair over it, doing her makeup over it, and that adds up. No problem, I thought. I'll just pull the trap and clean it out.

Until....

I discovered what our plumber had done. The primary reason for a trap is that it traps water thereby preventing sewer gases from entering the house. The secondary purpose is to trap the stuff and gunk that you eventually need to clean out. For that reason traps are simple to remove. Loosen two large "nuts" that hold it in place and voila'.

So why would our plumber "hard plumb" one end of the trap? Yep, glued the joint. No nut. I resorted to chemicals down the drain.

Today I decided it was about time to find out why our shower merely drizzles water. It's possible that the shower head is somewhat obstructed with sediment and needs cleaning. Or maybe we just need a different type. This is a simple job for a homeowner. They sell shower heads of all varieties at home improvement stores. Just unscrew the old head, peel off the used teflon tape on the threads, put on new tape, install new shower head (or cleaned old one).

Unless you've had the plumber from hell.

The idiot screwed the shower head on sooooo far and sooooo tightly that I can't get it to budge. The entire angled pipe coming from the wall wants to unscrew first. I've used every possible tool and clamping device for the pipe that I can come up with. The shower head will NOT unscrew.

Now while it is possible that I may be able to safely unscrew the entire pipe and replace the lot, I was not going to try that a half hour before our local hardware store closed for the day!

This is not supposed to be this difficult! I replaced both shower heads at our house in Florida. One of those had been there since 1949 and even it unscrewed with no problem.

Idiot plumber.

Ability and Lacking

A day or two ago, while my Mom was out working in her front garden, a lady from a ways down the street stopped to say hello and ask how we all were doing. My Mom proceeded to fill her in on our activities including my recent "job" of installing Pergo flooring in her den and hallway. The neighbor looked at my Mom incredulously and rhetorically questioned, "Is there anything that Deb *can't* do?"

Well, there obviously is a lot that I can't do. Especially little things like...

Oh....

Flying a jet, walking in space, underwater welding, climbing Everest, bronco riding, and bull fighting come to mind.

Yeah, weird list.

So, here are some pictures of the Pergo job at my Mom's house. At the end of the hallway there is a door that joins to my house. And here is a view looking towards the deck where Squirt visits. He still comes a few days each week and several times those days to get peanuts. One more shot of the back wall of the den, next to the hallway and opposite the deck side.

Comments like the one the neighbor, Mrs. F., made and comments from Mary have prompted me to sit down and write my Ten Can't List. Aside from the biggies and the outlandish here are some things I just can't do or having to do keeps me awake at night and sickish.

Public speaking
Playing the piano for an audience (of one or more)
Highway driving in extreme weather conditions or in anticipation thereof
Driving into or through Boston (guess that could be any major city...Tampa doesn't bother me, though)
Heights (I'm good for about one story, then it's iffy. But I love ferris wheels)
Taking tests

and

Copper plumbing (my soldering would need loads of practice)
Major electrical (I can do minor things like new plugs and lamp wiring)
Automotive work (add to that lawn mowers, they're yucky and greasy and gasoline can go boom)
Operating a chainsaw

No need to remind me of the multitude of other can'ts.

Some of these things I really wish I could do. All right, most I wish I could do. I have decided that I shall not learn or unnecessarily force any of the above upon myself.

I'll add that in order to do the Pergo job for my Mom, I had to use a table saw. This is one of my least favorite power tools but I can make myself use one.

P.S. See that little oak bench used as a coffee table in front of the sofa? I made that, too! My Mom asked for one for Christmas a few years ago.

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Just had to include this for the fun of it. Credit to D. Fandrich for the photo.

Nothing Fancy :-(

Just felt the need to "report in". Been busy. Really busy. Work, work, work. On keys (two sets shipped out yesterday), on the reed organ (working on some veneer repairs), and yep folks, working for my Mom (volunteer work).

Would someone please buy me a roll of duct tape for my mouth?

That way I would quit volunteering to do stuff.

On and off over the past week I've ripped up the wall-to-wall carpeting and the padding and the tack strips in her den and hallway. I had to remove all the baseboards to do this. I'm installing the Pergo flooring. It's now mostly done with only one last intricate corner board that also spans three doorways! Oh yeah, she wants the linen closet floor done, too, but that will be a cinch.

Today we hauled all the carpet and stuff to the dump and had to buy a $5 coupon at the DPW office to get rid of the debris.

My workshop looks like it snowed beige dust from all the sawing! What a mess to clean up.

I ache. My back, my wrists, my ankles, my legs, even the palms of my hands. My right elbow is the worst. I've had a lot of tunings mixed in between hammering and prying and driving "snap" joints together.

The floor is looking good, though!

I'll take pics when I have the energy.

More blogging to come later this week...even a Lanesville post!

Charity Case

I hate asking anyone for a favor. I have to be in dire need. I have learned over the past 15 years of being single (and only parent 24/7) that sometimes I just have to grit my teeth and ask for help with something. I pay back the favor, in turn, as soon as I can...or if it is someone that will accept nothing in return, I try to do an extra for another person. Passing along the good stuff about caring for one another (how sappy).

The past week's mail has been quite charitable. Oh yes, the normal bills and junk mail but... this arrived on Saturday while we were on our northern excursion. Enclosed with the invite was this note from the president. I guess they are appreciative of the reed organ rebuild that I donated to the historical society!

If I had received only the invitation, I would have probably paid the $20 and called it "advertising" by keeping my presence "out there" visible. I called and graciously accepted the special invite...thank you very much Sandy Bay Historical Society!

Monday's mail came as an enormous mound of envelopes. Oh drat, I thought, more bills. Amazingly there was not one bill. The bank statements (two for each of us), some catalogs, junk mail, and this... My mom got one, too. Ellen's has frequent diner cards. After filling them in (several meals to fill them) you gain points earning an amount off your following meal. Then you turn in the card (plural if you eat there a lot) and there is a drawing in the Fall. Biggest prize is $100 gift certificate. Several other lesser amounts are awarded ($50, $25). Seems we didn't win at all this year but they know we eat there a lot and were generous.

I'm feeling like a charity case!

Now, anyone feel like paying off a mortgage? No? How about a little Toyota Tacoma with only 14 payments left?

Guess no takers (giggle).

Intervale

Well, well, I must truly be a glutton for punishment. Ya see, I hate highway driving and I hate it even more when downpours are expected. No, make that absolutely dread the downpours. So what did I offer? Why to travel back to Intervale for a day trip on Saturday.

The initial weather forecast was for a sunny day with a chance of showers in the evening. This would be all right as I was planning on getting home before dark anyway. By the night before our departure the forecast had changed. Huge thunderstorms a possibility between 4 and 7 p.m. They would be moving in from the north northwest. Oh splendid. Now I need to get back home before all that. Or at least to familiar territory.

I didn't sleep well Friday night and was awake before the alarm went off at 5 a.m. We were leaving at 6 for the three hour drive. Yes, I was a wreck about the weather.

And just why were we making the trip? Remember that A sold his house in Intervale? He hurt his back last week and is trying to recuperate before his trip to Germany at the end of the month. He has ALL his stuff still in the Intervale house. We asked how he was arranging to get it back to Rockport. A didn't want to have to worry about it. He said that the new owners had told him he could just leave everything there if he wanted to. They'd take care of it, use it, whatever.

Uh huh.

No way. These people got an extremely good deal on the house and now they offer to take his stuff "off his hands". This means the paintings, furniture, china, silver, tools, grand piano, and more.

Sooooooo, I offered to make the trip, load as much of his personal belongings as possible and get them back to Rockport. Mostly the paintings (his, his deceased wife's, his father's, grandfather's, and his wife's father's) and a bit of small furnishings, tools, the silver, china, some linens, personal papers and photos, and a gorgeous ship model.

A was thrilled that we would do this and told us to bring back anything that we wanted for ourselves! Well, that would be impossible as we would need to add on to our house to have enough space for all the things we admired!

We left at 6 a.m. and made a pit stop in Newburyport 45 minutes later. Coffee from Dunkin' Donuts! Then it was on the road north with me keeping an eye on the sky. Things were looking good. Very little traffic and only patchy high clouds and some blue sky. Until we got to the Tamworth area and the sun went away. I noticed that the clouds were getting a bit of cumulus build-up. Oh yuck. It stayed cloudy all the way to Intervale (we take West Side Road to avoid traffic near the outlet shops). This map shows a big X where A's house is located. You can also find other interesting places including "Scarecrows" where we ate dinner last time and "Glen Junction" our favorite breakfast and lunch spot. Click on the maps to enlarge them. Amanda requested lunch at the Junction, this trip, so we called it her Choo Choo Chow.

We arrived at A's just before 9 a.m. and immediately got to work. We started upstairs before the day got too hot. Temperature's were supposed to be in the 90'sF. I hauled most of the paintings down the stairs and a rocker and two old footstools while my mother and Amanda packed up some linens, clothing, books, and glassware. We started stacking everything in the middle of the living room floor. Next we walked around downstairs selecting the best of the artwork from those rooms and packed up the ship model, china, silver, and more linens. I found an accordion A had mentioned and a recorder. He had also mentioned bringing back two small tables. Amanda and I climbed the steep stairs to the studio loft and found art portfolios and a nice oak straight chair. We had quite a "pile" and decided that it was the end of the "first choices". Time to load everything in the van and see if we had any room for "second choices".

First I loaded the furniture. The rocker, the straight chair, two stools and two little tables. On table is a very small gate-leg, the other a drop leaf. Then came the boxes with linens, the accordion, and the china. After the big and heavy things were loaded, I started standing the art work, one after the other across the back end of the van. On top of the heavy boxes I stacked a carton of smaller paintings and the carton with personal photos and the ship model. There was only a bit of room left. Just enough for a few hand tools, a couple more paintings, and a hall mirror that I really liked. We decided to check the cellar to see if there were any more tools to bring to A. Nothing much was left down there other than an enormous table saw. Impossible for us to transport!

We were loaded up and ready to roll! It was only 11:30 a.m.

Off to Glen Junction for Choo Choo Chow!

We were done with our lunch around 12:15 and hit the road for home. It felt good to be heading back. Still no rain in sight but I had this feeling that it wasn't far away. The sky had THAT look and the leaves on the trees were blowing showing their silvery undersides. I said that we would drive until we reached Newburyport and then we could get out to stretch legs and straighten aching backs. I could handle driving the back roads from Newburyport to home in the rain. The van could probably do the trip without me steering....yep, it's made it many, many times.

Then we changed plans. Instead of continuing on Rte 16/Spaulding Turnpike we decided to get off on Rte 125 in Rochester, NH. It made for a more interesting drive. It was so much nicer being on a two lane road rather than highway. The downside was that it added an extra half hour to the already long trip. Then we couldn't agree on a suitable"stretch stop". Since I was doing all the driving, I made the choice of NO STOPPING.

A very poor choice.

My butt really hurt. I'd been stuck in the same position for 3.5 hours in a van seat that is too deep for my legs. By the last half hour every bump in the road hurt.

We pulled in the driveway at about 4 p.m. I could barely straighten up when I got out of the van. We walked around for a bit and decided that we needed dinner, so guess what? Back in the van to drive to Friendly's. By the time we finished eating, it had started to sprinkle. By the time we got back in the house it was pouring, thundering and lightening. I was very glad to be home.

footnote: A was thrilled that we had manged to bring back so much of his stuff. Along with the furniture and other stuff, we brought over 50 paintings, numerous unframed watercolors, and several sketchbooks. From that Mom chose the rocker and a footstool and four paintings (two by A, two by A's father-in-law), Amanda wanted the "gothic"style straight backed chair, and I chose the gate-legged table, the hall mirror, and 3 paintings (by A's father-in-law, A's wife, and A's grandfather) and a signed lithograph. And we all ready own several of A's and his wife's paintings.

A kept wanting us to take more.

New Toys

Well, I went to Sears and picked up my new sander. Like any new toy I had to get it out of the box and set up. Some assembly required. I'm not as pleased with it as I am my older bench sander. They just don't make them like they used to. Literally. It will, however, suffice as a back-up and if needed to become the primary machine, will function well with a couple easy modifications.

While I was downstairs with the camera I decided to take some shots of the workshop. It all looks so confusing in these photos. Not really. It's also not as cleaned up as it was a couple days ago. I've been working on the upstairs woodwork, and the player, and the reed organ, and now two more sets of keys. This shot is of the "front" side of the shop where I do most of the key work. You can see the stairs that lead down from my kitchen in the back. This next one is the "back" side where I do most of the player piano and reed organ work. This last photo came out very strangely color-wise. There is no good explanation for this. This end of the shop is still getting organized. This was part of my Dad's half. Still to come is "his" other half where at present we are storing all the stuff for a late Spring yard sale.

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Another new toy. This time for you. As part of the upgraded Blogger, it's easy to add new page elements. So over time I'll be doing that. For now the new toy in the sidebar is a short list of blogs that I regularly read. If you haven't seen some of them, check them out. I'll be adding more eventually, but for now I listed the ones that I have been reading for quite some time.

Also, as promised for those of you that do not have an email address for me already on file. If you go to my profile page you will see a link for email. This address is checked only a couple times per week and is only for folks who have no other way to get in touch with me. It's just part of the anonymity of the Internet!

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Speaking of email, Internet, and just weird stuff. Some of you who have been reading here since the beginning will know how much I hate coincidence, yet have a fascination with it. Well, here I go again.

First thing yesterday morning I received a "junk" email on my business email account. Not spam. One of those fwd, fwd,fwd, sorts from someone I know. A piano tech that I do business with. The subject line was something to do with "as seen on a couple morning TV shows". I simply deleted the message, never bothering to open it. The reasoning was, first this tech would only be getting in touch about key work - nothing else, secondly multi-forwarded stuff is usually junk urban legend stuff. Okay so far. I finished reading my other email, digests, and checked in on a couple bloggers, then went downstairs for coffee. About a half hour after I got downstairs the phone rang. I have caller I.D. (so don't mess with me!) It was the same tech that the junk email had just come from. Weird. I picked up the phone expecting to hear him apologize for having inadvertently sent the message, or that some mass email address harvesting bug had gotten to his email account address book or the like.

Nope. Never a mention. He needed key work done.

Very weird.

Off, Running, and I Must Be Nuts

Is it still Wednesday? Yikes. Well, today was supposed to be sort of a day off. Amanda didn't work, of course Mom is retired, and that leaves me. I'll work any day. I like to work. this morning, shocker of shockers, Amanda decided to walk with me down to the Whistlestop Mall for the newspaper. After that I went to work frantically on a set of keys, to get them to a drying time so that I didn't feel so bad about taking the rest of the day off. Once I reached that point, I got changed and got the gang headed for the car.

Our first stop was at the "big" Home Depot. My Mom has decided to remove all the wall-to-wall carpeting in the den and the hallway and replace it with Pergo flooring to match the rest of the house. The "little" Home Depot near the mall didn't have any in stock (we had checked on the weekend). "Big" HD had it but we had to wait for the forklift guy to get back from lunch to get a new pallet-full down from the top rack. We needed 17 cases. And underlayment. My time off just created more work for me. Installing flooring for my Mom. This stuff is heavy by the case. Fortunately, my Mom's van has an automatic load weight compensator! Really! I loaded 13 cases in the back of the van and another 4 at Amanda's feet, mid van. On my way back from returning the big, flat cart, I took a look at the van. Sorta low in the back and we had a pile more miles and errands to do. I started up the engine to leave and heard the compensator purring away.

An easy couple of miles down Rte. 114 and we made our next stop. Lowes. A Home Depot competitor. Mom had purchased an area rug for the den a couple days ago. She really liked it. It did look nice. Only problem was it was too big. So back it went to exchange it for a smaller size. She had bought a 5 X 8 and needed something along the size of 4 X 6.

They don't make it that size.

Looked once again at the van as we headed out of the store. Gotta love that compensator. Didn't look like there was anything weighty at all in the van. On to the next stop.

Target. For Amanda. As I was looking down to put the keys in my purse, I noticed a dark spot on my gray shirt. Hmmm, not too noticeable. I mentioned it to Amanda and then she said, "You've got a lot more down near the bottom in the middle." I looked. Oh crap. Grease marks all over my shirt. Must of come off of the handle of the big, flat cart. While Amanda was looking at CD's I went and bought a new shirt. A reasonable purchase at $7.99! I headed for the restroom to change. Off to the next stop, skipping the store I needed to go to, sort of, maybe. And that's why we didn't make the stop.

On Saturday I had gone to Sears and ordered a new bench sander. 2 X 42 belt and 8 inch disk combo. The one that I use for keytop work still runs fine, but this is the only machine that I do not have at least one duplicate of. Since keytop work is the major income generating part of my business, I like to be prepared and equipped with a secondary machine if the primary should fail for any reason. Anyway, the new sander was supposed to be in today. They would call and let me know. We left the house around 11:30 and I had not heard anything, so I decided not to waste time waiting in line only to find out that it was not there yet.

So we hauled our lightweight selves with our packed heavy van up the highway from Danvers to the Newburyport exit and then hit the back roads to Merrimac and Skip's for a late lunch. I kidded my Mom about going across the Rock's Village bridge with such a heavy load. It's a steel, swing bridge but the "pavement" is wood covered with macadam. Every here and there the macadam is missing and you get to bump down on to the wood planking.

It truly is safe. I think.

The cheeseburger specials were as good as always, but the news was disappointing at Skip's. They are closing for the season on September 30th. Two weeks earlier than usual. Drat. I was planning on taking a friend there when he visits in October. Maybe we'll have to just do a drive-by. I am NOT happy they are closing early. NOT. Screws up my plans.

Well, headed home the non-highway way. I'll be doing enough highway driving again this Saturday. Got home and had the not so pleasant chore of carrying the 17 cases of Pergo up the front walk, up the front steps, and making three piles of them in the house. Amanda helped with the hauling which was great.

Tired as I was, I still had to go work on the keys. Got the new tops glued on and quit for the evening at 7 p.m. Returned a couple phone calls to customers and crashed in front of the TV. Oh yeah, there was a message waiting form Sears. The sander is in! The phone rang three more times and the people left messages but they'll wait until morning. All job stuff. Even one from a lady in Montana wanting to know if I could refer her to someone to rebuild their reed organ!

Back to Sears tomorrow.

Now I just have to survive Saturday's excursion.

Back to Intervale!

For the day!

To play household mover.

Remember A's house had sold? Well, the new folks said that if he didn't want to bother moving his stuff out, that he could leave it. NO WAY. There are things that he shouldn't just give to them. To strangers. Family paintings and such. They were (are) all artists. Anyway, A isn't feeling well and can't get up there so we volunteered to haul as much of his stuff as we can fit in the van back to Rockport for him. The paintings, some small furniture, linens and clothing, some dishes, and few odds and ends.

3 hours driving there, pack the van, quick lunch, pack some more, leave by 4 p.m. or so, 3 hours driving back and home before dark.

I'll take the camera!

If I'm not nuts now, I'll be crazy by Saturday night.


And one final update. Ronnie's mascot finally fell. I got the word a few days ago.

Fingers Crossed

.....to see you soon!

I'm going to update my blogger account. I've been postponing this for weeks. I hate sending major changes drifting through cyberspace hoping that they will survive the trip and be recognizable at the end of the journey.

Sometimes I'm so in the fog about this stuff....

Crossing my fingers!

Morning, Noon and Night

When I woke up this morning I really felt as if I was coming down with something serious. I felt lousy. As tired as when I went to bed last night, headache-y, run down, yucky, cold sweat, shaky, you name it. BLAH. I kept it to myself. What's the worst that could have happened? I could have felt even worse, in which case I'd have had to 'fess-up and gone to take a nap, or I'd eventually feel better.

Ate my usual two slices of toast, but without the apple jelly. I was saving my sweet intake for later. Downed a cup of coffee, black. Squirt showed up for walnuts so I fed him. He takes the half shells up on to a lounger to eat. Squirt is not nearly as pushy as Squeaky. He just looks in the window pleadingly. Yah, I know.

I walked to Rite-Aid (formerly Brooks - formerly Sandy Bay Apothecary, anybody else remember those days?) and bought the morning paper. A waste of 50 cents.

Got home and took the recyclables to the dump. Amanda went with me for the ride. We checked out the Swap Shop but there weren't any good finds. Rummaging in the scrap metal pile is no longer allowed. NOT FAIR. What if I see something that I can use? Ran into a former newspaper customer of Amanda's and he asked "how's my sweetheart?" I think he and his wife would adopt her! Where were they 10 years ago when that would have sounded ideal?

After the dump Amanda had to tackle a massive bedroom cleanup. It's amazing how she can accumulate so much crud. Oh sorry, I guess the stuff is valuable to her. I went downstairs to the workshop to pick up and clean there. I was interrupted only three times by my Mom who wanted to stain the front of the house. She has "her" projects but they require the assistance of others, namely me. So got the ladder up for her, found the gallon of stain she bought, trimmed the shrub that was in the way of the ladder (it has died and needs to be dug out....another day.....sigh).

The workshop is looking really good. I should get around to posting some pictures of it!

Oh yeah, while I was hauling stuff up the bulkhead stairs for my Mom, I decided I might as well get some other heavy work done, just to make myself feel really rotten. I carried up the pump unit to the Smith American reed organ and got it installed. Phew.

By then it was lunchtime. Amanda had decided to sit out on the deck in the sun. The end of summer comes around and she panics about looking too pale. I made a peanut butter sandwich and grabbed a handful of potato chips (crisps far east) and joined her on the deck. I sat under the umbrella. Sunshine and peanut butter aren't a favorite combo. After finishing lunch, it sounded soothing to have the hot sun on my aching back and shoulders so I sprawled on the lounger for about 15 minutes. Break time was over too soon. Back to work.

I was hoping to get Amanda's room primed and painted before putting up all the stained trimwork. No such luck. I've been storing all the finished trimwork down in the workshop and worrying that extended storage in the work area would result in it getting damaged. I made a goal of each time that I went upstairs, I would measure for at least one section of trim in Amanda's room. This afternoon I made a huge dent in the job and have cut and installed about half the trim. When it comes to time to prime and paint I'll have to mask all the woodwork, but, oh well.

So there I was at 3 p.m. feeling much better. I don't know why. Maybe it was the peanut butter LOL. It's a good thing I felt better as I had made a big promise to my Mom and Amanda about what I'd cook for dinner.

When I was growing up, my Dad always called them English Pancakes. Now that they are popular, most of the world refers to them as Crepes. Sometimes my Dad called them Crepes Suzettes, but I think he was just trying to be fancy. When I was a kid, all my friends wanted to have dinner at our house if my Dad was making English Pancakes. What kid wouldn't want paper-thin pancakes rolled up with butter and sugar inside for dinner??

This was Dad's specialty and he had learned to make them from his mother. He said that they never rolled them up when he was a kid. His mother would layer them on a plate, with butter and sugar, and keep the stack warm in the oven until she had made enough. Then she would cut the stack into servings like you would a cake. Anyway, my Mom NEVER tried to make them. It was only my Dad at the skillet.

But I watched. And every once in a while I'd ask a question. My Dad asked if I wanted him to teach me how to do it. I declined his offer. As an adult, the only time my Dad would make them is if I asked. And later, as he got older and less patient, he'd only make them for my birthday.

Little did he know.....

I had learned.

About 10 years ago I started trying to make them. There is a definite knack to it. It took me a few tries before I had a method down. First the batter has to be just right. It has to flow through fork tines at the correct rate and with the correct look. Then there's the skillet temperature - fairly hot. And finally the quick swirl of the batter in the skillet and the "pour-off" to achieve the perfect round shape and the exact thinness.

So, tonight, after a 5 year lapse in practice, I made English Pancakes. Yummy.

But after 3 or 4 you feel like you've swallowed a cannonball.

Doggone It!

Yes, it continues. And I thought things might improve. But lo and behold, front page of the GDT:

"Dog Officer Seeks Volunteer Caretakers"

Huh?????????

Just snips as it was a long article.

...the dog was not injured contrary to a police report...
...a good Samaritan took it home until the owners eventually were reunited with their pet...

And what about penalties?

...Trafton does not pick up strays or untagged dogs because the town does not have a kennel. By law Trafton would be obligated to care for a dog for 10 days at her own expense...

And then she says -

Trafton proposed that she call on volunteers willing to catch and care for stray dogs...she would provide the volunteer with a crate and food...

Seems to me that would qualify as "at her own expense" which she just had issue with.

...if Trafton brings the dog to the volunteer, she and the town would become liable...

Why are we paying for a dog officer if they can't pick up an untagged, unleashed dog????Are they liable if they pick up a dog that is tagged? If not, why not?

And then -

"State law forbids towns from turning animals over to businesses or research facilities, but does not mention private citizens."- GDT reporter, Jonathan L'Ecuyer

"No municipality shall give, sell, or turn over any animal which may come into custody to any business or institution licensed or registered as a research facility or animal dealer with the U.S. Department of Agriculture," one Massachusetts law states.

Hmmm, seems the reporter didn't understand the explicit wording in the MA law. I don't recall it saying a pet supply store or even a laudromat, which are certainly businesses but not research facilities or animal dealers.

Trafton then says...even if state law did forbid the town from turning an animal over to a good Samaritan, it would not apply because the dog would never be in her possession...

So now she admits that she CAN legally catch strays and then turn them over to whoever for care. There is NO law forbidding it!

If this is not enough to make you wonder what on earth these people are thinking try this statement. Again, from the same article in the GDT. "Trafton said selectmen have gone so far as to look into how much a kennel would cost. However, Trafton admits the nearly $100,000.00 cost is a hard sell...."

My 700 sq ft addition cost 3/4 that amount! I want to live in the kennel! Please. please, please!

And, "Around four years ago, there was a caged-in area behind the police station enclosing a dog house where strays and untagged canines could be held...The fence was knocked down by a Public Works plow truck during it's first winter and never repaired."

We evidently didn't worry about the liability four years ago. Why didn't we fix the fence? Of course now we can't as we didn't vote for the budget override.

Is It Just Me?

or.....

Does anyone else see a lot wrong with this from the Gloucester Times..........?

Rockport Police/Fire

• A resident called police Monday morning to report that a black Labrador with a purple collar was loose in Happy Tails Pet Supply. Police notified dog officer Mindy Trafton. Trafton went to the shop and recommended that the dog be released from the store because it did not have identification tags. The dog was later hit by a car and injured. Trafton was notified by police of what happened. Trafton says the town has no place to legally hold stray dogs and if she had picked up the dog she would have been obligated by law to keep it at least 10 days.
  

I have come up with a minimum of eight problems with this incident.
How about you?

What is wrong with this system? I was going to write, "what is wrong with this town?", but that may be a bit too inclusive of folks that have nothing to do with the situation.

So, my eight....

1. Trafton's recommendation just doesn't make sense. Where is enforcement of our licensing and leash (haha) laws?
2. Trafton's statement "no place to legally hold strays...". What law is this? How can we enforce any animal regulations without a legal holding area? Why don't we have one?
3. Trafton's comment that she would be "obligated by law to keep it at least 10 days". Well, isn't she the dog officer? Isn't that part of her job?
4. If the dog is not held in hopes of the owner appearing, how can any non-license fines be charged? To whom?
5. If the dog was hit by a car, as stated, who is to be held responsible for damage to the car if the dog's owner is not sought out. If the dog were placed "in custody" an owner might come forth to claim their animal.
6. What about the trauma to the driver of the car having hit the dog?
7. If the dog was injured, as stated, was it taken to a vet? Who's paying?
8. Why are we paying for a dog officer (whose part time pay is more than my annual full time salary, and also has municipal employee benefits) who is legally unable or for some other reasons isn't performing the function of the position?

This situation could have been far worse. Consider the "what if's". What if the driver had swerved to miss the dog and had instead hit another car. Or worse had hit a pedestrian?

Missing Person

Blogging presents some interesting dilemmas. About a week ago a sort of nifty thing happened. I'll explain.

Last Fall, as I remember, I posted about the Weather Channel's show Storm Story being about the loss of the Gloucester pilot boat Can-Do during the Blizzard of '78. Then I wrote a post about how Capt. Quirk and the Can-Do had aided in towing our boat the Minoan off of Front Beach where it had washed ashore during a nor'easter. And that last we knew, the Minoan was being used as a live-aboard in Boston Harbor.

Well, just last week I received a comment on the Storm Stories post from David. Here is the text of that comment so you don't have to go back and find it.

I was the live aboard in boston harbor. I just finally sold the boat last year. I loved the minoan and have many pictures and stories to offer you. Thanks for sharing the great pics. She is a tough old boat- Dave

I replied that I would be interested in sharing some stories and to post his blog address (the link showed his profile as being private). He hasn't.

Therein is my dilemma. I have tried to be very cautious about limiting contact with me, by strangers, to the comment area of this blog. Some of you do know my business and/or personal email address(es), and it is possible with the info on my blog to do a bit of creative Googling and find my business address. That's ok by me. Fortunately, it would be a rather extensive, imaginative, and time consuming search, to INTENTIONALLY find my blog specifically, by searching for me. Yeah, I know that sounds confusing...just trust me. It's designed with the idea of keeping my former (yay for former) stalker away from here.

Well, my point is this. Some time in the next couple of days I'll be creating a new email address that's sole purpose will be for "public" display on this blog. Those of you who know my "real" address(es) PLEASE still use one of those. The new address will be for strangers and will be disposable as need may be. Just an experiment, I guess.

So David, if you're still reading, there will eventually be contact info.

This and That and More

Here's a wonderful picture from the top of Mount Washington. This kitty's name is Inga. I bought this postcard over 15 years ago so quite possibly Inga is no longer around. And just to round out the images from Mount Washington, I just had to post this gorgeous photo that is on one of the websites.
All the hunting around the websites got me to think of recommending a book. The title is, Ten Years on the Rock Pile by Lee Vincent. The cover description reads as follows: A collection of stories, some hilarious some tragic, about life at the summit of Mount Washington. And then Mary's comment about the "Old Man of the Mountain" got me to pull out an old book that I bought a few years ago at a church fair. It's called The Great Stone Face and Other Tales of the White Mountains, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I've decided to read it.

Once I'm through with the "Lanesville" stories, I may have to write some adventures in the north stories.
******************************************

It has taken a few days to recover from time off! I've been battling an on and off sinus headache for several days. Or maybe it has been a summer cold that I'm refusing to admit to! Anyway, I've been working throughout and have gotten a lot accomplished on the player piano that I'm working on for the folks in Marblehead, and I've started rebuilding the pump portion of the Smith American reed organ for Dr. W. Both are due to be completed sometime in October.

After a hard day of working, Mom and I decided to head to Ellen's Harborside for dinner. Being a Friday night and the last weekend before school starting for AY07-08, I wasn't hopeful of finding a decent parking space. Wow, was I surprised when the first spot on the resident side of T-Wharf, directly across from Ellen's, was available. I waited, with my directional clicking away, as some tourists walked across the street (wharf) in front of me. As soon as they were out of the way, I tried to pull in to the parking space. I could only get halfway in. Some rather dull-minded lady was standing in the middle of the space eating her ice cream and gazing out over the inner harbor. Surely she would hear a truck pulling in behind her. Nope. The windows were down on my truck so I politely yelled out to her.

"Excuse me!"

nothing

Mom tried.

"Hello......hellooooo!"

nothing

I gave up and tooted the horn. The dull-minded lady turned casually and stared blankly at us. Then she ever-so-slowly sauntered to the edge of the parking space.

I wonder if I should have just pushed her in. She probably wouldn't have noticed.
***************************************

I think today was the start of the end of summer as I like it. Humidity was up just a bit and temps were in the low 80's. Tomorrow is due to be low 90's and very humid. Maybe a shower on Sunday but still warm. Next week temps are supposed to be lower. They call lower temps comfortable. I call it autumn coming too quickly.

North Country

At last! Amanda had two days off in a row so we actually had chance to get away. The three girls headed for Intervale, New Hampshire. It's just north of North Conway. We have a Rockport friend who has a vacation house in Intervale that we have been able to use whenever we wanted. Problem is, it was just sold. This trip was our last free lodging in NH.

I drove the almost three hours to get to the house. Here's the place. From the front...and.....from the back. Nearly an acre of land. The house is getting to need a lot of work though.

So, what do three girls do on a short vacation? Why, shop, shop, shop, of course. There's an outlet shopping area called "Settler's Green". After we got our stuff in to the house, my Mom drove in to town for shopping. I got a couple three-quarter length sleeved tops, a gray sweater, and a cute, hooded denim jacket at the Eddie Bauer outlet. My Mom got some winter tops and decided to think about a jacket that she tried on. Amanda got a gray denim jacket and a shirt at the Gap outlet store. We shopped around in a few others but didn't find anything that we *had* to have.

After shopping we headed for Scarecrow's Tavern to get burgers for dinner. We decided that although it was ok, it wasn't a place we would eat at again. We got back to the house and a friend that lives in North Conway came over for a visit. By the time we got through chatting and catching up on news, it was time for bed. K went home and we turned in for the night.

The next morning we all got up early to go out for breakfast. While my mother was finishing up getting ready, Amanda and I went out to take the pictures of the house. Then, with Mom driving, we headed further north to Glen. Here's the view of Mount Washington from the road directly behind the house (as we headed north). The top of Mt. Washington is only clear 40% of the time. We had two clear days. We ate breakfast at Glen Junction. This is a nifty little restaurant that has a model train running around the top of the dining room. Amanda bought a T-shirt that has the restaurant logo embroidered on it.

Shop, shop, shop!

We drove back to the house to load up our luggage and bags of goodies, and to make a pit stop! Our morning would be spent.....shopping.

Our first stop was the Crafter's Barn which is three large floors of handcrafted items. This was Amanda's choice for shopping as she likes to look at all the jewelry. She didn't buy anything, though. Next stop was the Christmas Loft. Mom's choice. Yikes, the place was HUGE. All I could think of while wandering around, room after room crammed with Christmas ornamentations was, what if someone yelled "fire"? I found a New York State ornament with the Statue of Liberty so I just *had* to buy it. Amanda bought a very pretty glass peacock ornament. Then we went to the Liz Claiborne outlet. No purchases there. Back to Eddie Bauer we went since Mom had decided to buy the jacket she saw the day before. By the time we were done it was after 12:00 so we stopped to grab a quick lunch at Friendly's.

Guess what I found?

Yep, another Statue of Liberty. $1.00 donation to some charity jar got me a "rubber ducky" Statue of Liberty. So what if the torch is in the wrong wing.........

Time for me to start the 3 hour drive back south. Of course the drive was interrupted with several stops at antique shops. More shopping, no buys.

You may wonder why we didn't do any sightseeing. There is certainly piles of it to do in the area. The reason is that we have visited the White Mountains quite frequently over the past half century. We've done most everything many times over. My favorite is traveling to the top of Mt. Washington. Years ago my Dad used to drive us up. We've taken the "coach" up the auto road as well. I've ridden the cog railway to the top twice. So....no sightseeing this trip. Do check out the links for Mt. Washington.

The webcam from Conway.
More info.
Be sure to check out the webcam links atop the mountain at the site hyperlinked above in the post.
Yep, it's a favorite place for me!
Maybe next time we'll play tourist.

Performance

There has been interesting debate in Rockport over "our" new performance venue. The old "Haskin's block" has been purchased by the Rockport Chamber Music Festival. The original plans of a combination of restoration and renovation have been scrapped. Now we find out that the old building will be demolished and a replacement structure erected in it's place. I wonder what happened to this building being in the historic district. I'll not debate the fact the the new building will have a considerably larger footprint and will also rise to new heights in the back, from one story to three, blocking the eastward water view for many residents.

My big problems with the new music hall are twofold. Number one is...

Where on earth do they plan to park the cars? We haven't enough space for residents and tourists as things are and the only current option (primarily for tourists who can't find a spot to park in town) is to park at the transfer station lot (read - the dump) and pay one dollar to ride the bus, disguised as a quaint trolley. So, tell me, are we to expect that the paying patrons of the Rockport Chamber Music Festival events, in their best evening attire, will be parking at the dump?

Number two problem for me is...

The aesthetics of the building. Yes, the new building will, in many ways, mimic the original Haskin's building. However, the architects have dressed up the French Second Empire style for the new structure rather than seeing the wisdom of the original builders in dressing it down for a small New England town. Here's a photo of the old Haskin's block built c. 1862.

And here's the architect's rendering for the new building. To me, this new design is just too gussied up for our town. A bit too painted and speaks more of "Nawlins" than Rockport. Wiping some of the extra makeup off would leave a gorgeous facade, still retaining that French Second Empire feel, and befit the Rockport Chamber Music Festival AND Rockport.

On a related topic. I found an interesting letter to the editor in today's GDT. The writer's intention was to draw attention to the lack of affordable venues for local artist's performances. I'm not copying the entire letter here. A lovely surprise I found nestled in the middle I have copied in total! (Words in parenthesis are mine)

Concert venue concern

To the editor:
I gave a concert on Friday, July 13, at the Rockport Community House.......

In the Rockport Community House, the piano was not tuned, and the owner called a technician to fix two keys that were stuck and would not play. This made it impossible to play that piano the way it was supposed to sound. She (the owner) did get them fixed but was unable to afford any other tuning or repairing expenses on the piano. The technician voluntarily repaired it, pro bono! Thank God she (the technician) was able to do that!.........

Bonnie Barish
Gloucester

Guess who that technician was?

Are you still wondering?

ME, ME, ME!

And while the text was a little confusing, and my name was not specifically mentioned, I *am* the only SHE piano technician listed in our phone book.

YAY, YAY, YAY, I love whatever good, free publicity/advertising that I get.

Short Takes from Lanesville 2

Since I've been side-tracked with artsy posts and commentary about sculpture this should be a good time for this Lanesville story. Having left the area in 1984, I may not have heard the news. Although, I would think that if it made the newspaper that some of my old friends and neighbors would have sent me a copy.

Once we had the house livable, we decided to spend a bit of time rebuilding the garage. Wisteria had eaten the majority of the original structure and though it was still standing it had no roof and three of the four walls were worthless. (If you look at the first picture, below, you can get an idea of the extent to which the wisteria had taken over. Doc is standing just to the right of the back corner of the old garage! This was taken AFTER we had pulled the vines off the garage.) Doc wanted a "studio" to work on his sculpture, so we salvaged one wall and the doors so that we could rebuild on the same spot and call it a renovation rather than new construction. These pictures show the before and the almost after. We did add on to the side with the windows about a year later.

So Doc got his workspace and he created some really nifty pieces here...wish I still had a few of them!

At one point, the DeCordova Museum had an exhibit featuring the faculty from the Massachusetts College of Art for which Doc designed an installation piece. It was a graveyard. He sculpted over a dozen headstones from hydrocal. Each headstone was identical in white "marble" with the entwined hands symbol. The only difference one to the next was the "numbering". Each stone had a different two-digit number. As I recall they were consecutive numbers. The piece spent a month at the DeCordova and then the pastor from our church in Lanesville asked if we could "install" the graveyard on the front lawn of the church for Easter week. THAT made the front page of the Gloucester Times!

That was the last time the graveyard appeared in public. I think. And that brings me to our move to Florida during the early summer of 1984.

What does one do with that many headstones weighing, oh...maybe 75 pounds each, when you want to move 1500 miles? Well, if you're on a budget you don't pay to move them.

(enormous grin)


You bury them in the back yard.

And wonder what will happen, years later, if.........

Someone inadvertently digs them up.

What a Pile

Just an update on the sculpture seen at the Rockport Art Association. It is by Charles Fields and is titled Abstract "A" for Art. It is made from Fiberglas (tm). This dropped any points I had given it thinking (from a distance) that it was actually sculpted from a piece of stone. Polyester and "glas" is a simple medium to work in. Yes, I know about this...I've done it...I was married to a sculpture professor (and sculptor). He taught 3D design and his specialty...PLASTICS AND MODERN MATERIALS. Anyway, my disbelief reached new heights when I read the price.......................


$5000.00 Yep. And it gets better. The RAA bestowed the Richard Recchia Memorial Award for excellence in sculpture to Mr. Fields for this piece. I have no idea who Richard Recchia was, but all I can say is, "I'm sorry."

Maybe I've lost touch with reality.

Dead Center of Town

This afternoon, after taking Amanda to work, I decided to put some time and effort in to finding that photo that dickiebo has assigned. I went cop hunting. Not just any cop. This one had to be "sans cruiser". A difficult task. Just think about how often the opportunity would present itself to you. Next time that you are out and about try to spot a cop on foot. Then imagine trying to get a photograph of him/her.

Anyway, I was needing a long walk.

I thought that perhaps there would be one of Rockport's officers at the annual acoustic music festival. Nope, not a one. At least not while I was there. I talked with Linda for a while. She volunteers with the Chamber of Commerce. I've never been fond of this festival. Not really my type of music and just doesn't seem to have much umph. Oh well, moving onward.

I walked up Mill Lane and stopped to admire the view to the east over an old cemetery. The dead center of town. It was a beautiful day to be out walking. I decided to head down Main Street and continued to fight the crowds of tourists out on to Bearskin Neck. I stopped to "play tourist" and take a picture from Bearskin Neck looking over towards T-Wharf, and the Sandy Bay Yacht Club. If you look past the yacht club you can see a large, dark brown house on the shoreline. It has a bright blue canvas on the second story deck. You'll have to enlarge the photo to see this. This is where the second webcam is located. The one that is aimed back towards the club.

So then I headed over to T-Wharf and stopped at Ellen's for an iced tea before walking up Broadway and on to Upper Main Street. That's when I saw it. Flashing blue lights....my photo op! Yay! I didn't get very close before I realized that the cop was heading back to get in the cruiser. I quickly got my camera ready, zoomed the lens as close as it would go, and took a quick shot, hoping the passing cars would not interfere. It's a lousy photograph, but it's a cop out of cruiser. Maybe I'll get a better shot sometime in the future.


PS....He waved as he drove by. (grin)

Tonsa Turds

I just thought that this would be an appropriate post to follow the last one!

My mom and I were taking a scenic tour through the streets of Rockport the other evening. Just to annoy the tourists, and to try to get a pic of a local cop "out of cruiser" for dickiebo, I drove down to the end of Bearskin Neck and back. Always fun to inch up behind unsuspecting tourists who haven't a clue that cars are allowed, could've wiped out dozens (snicker). Anyway, we survived the trip out the "Neck" and headed up Main Street. For some reason, I looked over at the Art Association as we passed by, and lo and behold....Look Ma, giant turds! It's got to be an homage to all the freely roaming dogs of Rockport.

Here's another view...somewhat less turd-like. Yet I would like to make a couple comments. My camera was held straight to the world. The front lawn of the Art Association is sloped. Wouldn't you think that a professional would display this piece better. I really think that the whole thing should have been leveled in some manner or displayed directly on the grass (more snickers). Actually, I think the whole piece should at least be hidden indoors. Fantastic turd-like color, though!

Wag and Woof

I'll preface this by saying that I really do like cats AND dogs. This letter was on the opinion page of today's Gloucester Daily Times.
If you can't read the print on the blog page, hover and click to enlarge....

In the four years that I walked delivering newspapers in the TOWN of Rockport, I was bitten at twice by dogs that were in a neighboring yard to their own, jumped on and followed numerous times down one street by a pair of mean cocker spaniels, and had to stop delivering the paper to a customer because his neighbor's dog would come after me if I tried to pass by on the right of way. Yay, when that neighbor finally moved and boo when the new owners had a dog that was even worse. If I got near the end of the right of way it would come after me.

Pet ownership comes with responsibilities. Seems a whole lot of folks don't think it should. Yes, I know many wonderful pet owners who DO take good care of their animals and don't shirk the inherent duties.

However...the rules are too vague and not enforced until matters are far out of hand. Sorry, Mindy, maybe the pay isn't great or the workload is too heavy, but as dog officer, well, more needs to be done. Maybe we need some stiff fines for blatant offenders. I can readily supply some names.

While we're at it...how about a poop scooping law? With so many dogs in Rockport, just walking the sidewalks can be a challenging obstacle course. Speaks poorly for our quaint town and smells bad too.

Not only should the lease law be uniform, it should be enforced. Dog owner's personal freedom should not be detrimental to mine.

Diddley

First off I'm taking a moment to welcome a fantastic month...August. I love summer and August in Massachusetts is about as close to April in Florida as it gets. Hot and humid most days, but every once in a while there's a moderate day of low 80's with RH around 40%, just to give you a break.

Secondly, I've been "reading around" some other blogs and have realized that my blog has been suffering from lack of hmmmm, umph. Not that I have frequent spectacular events in my life that I feel compelled to relate, but in retrospect, I used to write more about nifty stuff around town, quirky things, and stuff that I was doing other than work, work, work.

Mary, I still haven't finished with a couple tales from Lanesville and I plan on writing them soon. I've got a real life, first time ghostly experience that I'll tell as well.

My next entry will probably cover some of the stuff I've been doing the last week or so. Most of it has been phone calls and paperwork to get my Mom's affairs, such as pension benefits, insurance, health coverage, all set for her. I have taken off a few days from work to take the gang out on minor adventures. You'll be hearing about those.

I've added a new link to the sidebar for C. B. Fisk Organs. It was in the GDT that they had premiered a website. I took a look at it and thought it was super. Have a peek. Tell them I sent you!

Tonight I'm going to try to finish reading Joplin's Ghost. At this point I can say that I am glad I only spent $5 on it and not the original price of $25. It started a bit slow in the first couple of chapters. The historic fictionalization of Joplin's life is quite good, written with enough research to make you almost believe that it could be non-fiction. The haunting of the main character, Phoenix, gets more and more absurd the more I read. I hope it has a surprise ending. An easy read, entertaining...that's it. Once finished I shall be on to reading Slipknot, the first fiction written by Linda Greenlaw. Linda has written several non-fiction books that have been superb. As written on the book jacket..."Before becoming a writer, she was the captain of a swordboat, a career that earned her a prominent role in Sebastian Junger's runaway bestseller The Perfect Storm and a portrayal in the subsequent film. Greenlaw now lives on Isle au Haut, Maine, where she captains a lobster boat."

Off to storyland...

The RO

July 12th I was in Gloucester District Court to extend (or not) the restraining order against my ex for one more year. My appearance time was 10 a.m., but truly that means little as to the actual time that my name would be called. One never knows exactly how busy the court schedule will be. Everyone with civil cases or with a restraining order appearance is scheduled for 10 a.m. Criminal arraignments begin at 9 a.m. Add to that having to go through a security check and you have to allot some extra leeway time. Add to that...there is no parking lot. On street, metered parking only with a 2 hour limit. Just what I'd need, a parking violation while in the courthouse!

I pulled in to the angle parking space, just a half block away from the courthouse. It was 9:20 a.m. I threw a nickel in the meter and sat in the truck. The meter maid strolled by while I was sitting. At 9:30 I hid my cell phone under the seat (they're not allowed in the court building), rolled up the windows, got out, locked the doors, and fed the meter 4 quarters. I was good for 2 hours.

Security check is just as you enter the building, downstairs in front of the police station. The courtrooms are upstairs. New procedure...purse on conveyor belt to be x-rayed and wait. Purse is searched and passes inspection. Only then am I allowed to walk through the metal detector...which goes off.

I always set it off. I think it's my bracelets but they are too annoying to take on and off. So I stand there like a fool, spread eagle, and get wanded. Finally I pass security inspection and I'm allowed to climb the stairs to the courtroom area. The lobby is packed with people and in my mind I can see my parking meter rushing through it's two hours. Just as I found a seat in a far corner, the doors open and everyone is allowed in to the courtroom. Time for the criminal arraignments. I decided that since it was air conditioned in the courtroom, and not in the lobby, I'd go in and listen. It took a while for the judge to get in but I was thrilled to see that it was my favorite, Judge Mori.

I am always amazed to see how irreverent folks are who are appearing in court. I was there by choice, the criminal arraignments, well, those folk mostly HAD to be there. And you'd think that they would want to make a favorable impression, at least seem intelligent and look presentable. Why oh why, would ANYONE appear in court in jeans? tank top? mini skirt? flip-flops? shorts? It's a good thing I'm not a judge. I'd jail them all for ignorance.

So, normal procedure has been that after the criminal arraignments there is a 10 minute recess, then the civil cases. Well, this time the criminal stuff took a long time. It was 10:15 when court adjourned for recess. I didn't think that I would have time to go feed the meter more coins, so taking a chance I decided to stay cool and comfy in the air conditioned courtroom. Then a new routine. Nobody can sit in the courtroom during recess. Oh bleck. Out to the stuffy lobby to wait...15 mintues

Finally, a half hour late, we are called in to the courtroom. This time I'm not called first. I had been the last few times. Few times, you wonder? Originally, two years ago, it took three appearances to get the restraining order. The original request, ten days later to find that the court had not yet received the "return of service", and 10 days after that when the "return of service" had been...returned. I didn't like the judge for the second appearance. He was angry with me that the "return" was not there. Hey! It's not my fault that this went through the mail to the UK, was served by the Met police (very promptly) and then mailed back taking more than 10 days. Oh well, Judge Mori apologized for how his colleague had spoken to me. Yay, Judge Mori! Then last year I had to appear to get the yearly extension.

Unbelievably, the dozen or so cases called before mine were no-shows and I am called, sworn in, and Judge Mori motions that I approach the bench. He asks if I wish the restraining order to be extended for another year. I asked if I may ask a few questions before giving my answer.

"Since there are several outstanding warrants in effect against my ex, would he be arrested if I saw him here in the states and called the police?"

"Yes." "Also, if he tried to enter the states through any major airport, or at the Canadian or Mexican border, he would be stopped and arrested."

To which I responded, "In a perfect world."

(smile) "Well, yes."

"Judge Mori, you have the history of this case in front of you. The last that my ex has attempted contact was October of 2006, when he phoned from a spoofed phone number, trying to reach me. At some point I feel that I need to take the chance and allow the restraining order to expire rather than anticipating an appearance in this courtroom every year. At this point I feel comfortable leaving the decision to you."

He smiled and said, "Let's see what happens. If there are further problems you can come back to court. I hope you have a great summer."

Ancestors

Remember Grandma from my last post?

Then I read about dickiebo and his wife doing some ancestry research and...

Here's where my Grandma J (formerly Miller) lived on Troy Street, in Blackburn, England. The top photo was taken on our trip in 1966. Grandma's house was the second door up from the corner shop. The bottom photo is Grandma J as a child in front of the house taken approximately early 1900.